Father! by that dear name my heart is stirred,
And child-like homage renders at the word;
No other name can give such sweet repose,
So full a solace for our many woes.
With joy unspeakable I hear Thy voice,
Which says, " At all times in My love rejoice."
I need not bring Thee words-"My Son, thy heart,"
Is Thy demand. And often, when apart
In sorrow, brooding o'er some heavy care,
'Tis soothing and relief to feel Thee near;
And though in broken tones my utterance be,
Father! I call, and Thou dost answer me.
Draw me! I will run after Thee, will seek
To hear obediently what Thou wilt speak;
And step by step the blessed path would trace
Of Thy beloved-full of truth and grace.
Thou hast but One who ever pleas'd Thee well,
Of Him we love to hear, and Thou to tell.
Our deep desire, our highest aim to grow
Into His likeness-all His grace to know.
The grace that brought Him from Thy bosom, where
The Fount of Life is, and all pleasures are,
To gain a name, our hearts adoring own
The name of Jesus-and a royal crown.
His and our Father! O the depth and height,
The love surpassing knowledge, 'tis too bright.
Faith nearly staggers at the mysteries-
The mystery of love: yet though o'erpower'd,
Our trembling hearts can trust Thy faithful word,
The Spirit with our spirit witnesses,
Children we are, and He our Father is!
Personne.
Ruth.
UT 1{The Book of Ruth tells us also of the days of the Judges, when there was no king in Israel; but it shows us the fair side of those days, in the operations of the grace of God, who, blessed be His name! never failed to work in the midst of the evil, as, also, in the steady progress of events towards the fulfillment of his promises in the Messiah, whatever may have been the simultaneous progress of the general evil.
Ruth, a stranger, seeking shelter by faith under the wings of the God of Israel, is received in grace, and the genealogy of David, king over Israel according to grace, is linked with her. It is the genealogy of the Lord Jesus himself, after the flesh.
This book appears to me to set before us, in type, the reception in grace of the remnant of Israel in the last days; their Redeemer (the kinsman, who has the right of redemption), having taken their cause in hand.
Eli-Melech (which signifies God the King) being dead, Naomi (my delight, my pleasure), becomes a widow, and eventually loses her children also. She typifies the Jewish nation, who, having lost her God, is like a widow, and has no heir. Yet there shall be a remnant, destitute of all right to the promises (and, therefore, prefigured historically by a stranger), who will be received in grace-similarly to the Gentiles and the Church-who will faithfully and heartily identify itself with desolate Israel. God will own this remnant, which, poor and afflicted itself, will in heart obey the commands given to the people.
Naomi, who, in her destitution, is a type of the nation, acknowledges her condition; she calls herself Mara (bitterness).
He who was nearest of kin, who would willingly have redeemed the inheritance, refuses to do so, if Ruth must be taken with it. The law was never able (nor the Church either) to re-establish Israel in their inheritance, nor to raise up, in grace, the name of the dead.
Boaz (in him is strength), upon whom the remnant had no direct claim, (and who typifies Christ risen, in whom are the sure mercies of David), undertakes to raise up the name of the dead, and to re-establish the heritage of Israel. Acting in grace and in kindness, and encouraging the patient, humble faith of the remnant, the meek of the earth, he shows himself faithful to fulfill the purposes and the will of God, with respect to this poor desolate family. Nothing can be more touching and exquisite than the details given here. The character of Ruth, this poor woman of the Gentiles, has great beauty. "Naomi took the child that was born to her, and laid it in her bosom;" and they said, "There is a son born to Naomi." In fact, the heir of the promises will be born unto Israel, as a nation, although the fulfillment of the promise affects the remnant only, which, fully identifying itself with the interests of God's people, has sought neither the rich nor the poor; but, in faith and obedience has kept the testimony of God amongst the people, in the path appointed by him.
Thus, if on one side, the Book of Judges shows us the falling away of the people of Israel, and their failure under responsibility, even when God was their helper; on the other side, this touching and precious book sets before us, as the dawn of better things, grace acting in the midst of difficulties, securing the fulfillment of promise, and embellishing this scene of misery and sin by lovely and beautiful instances of faith, precious fruits of grace, whether in weakness and devotedness, or in strength and kindness, and always in accordance with the perfect will of God.
In the succeeding books, we shall see prophecy, and the history of God's dealings, developing the body of events which tended to the fulfillment of His designs, the first principles, the elements of which are laid down in that which will be shown us in him. For Ruth furnishes a kind of intermediate link 'between the fall of Israel under God's immediate government, and the future fulfillment of His purposes.
Prophecy, which unfolds these purposes, and gives moral proof of this fall, begins with Samuel: we learn this from the lips of Jesus, who is himself the object of prophecy.
Eli the last judge and priest, departs, his family is to be cut off, the Ark of the Covenant is taken by the Philistines, and Samuel, consecrated to God in a new and extraordinary manner, comes in with the special testimony of the Lord.